Eating a balanced diet, taking regular exercise and quitting smoking will more than offset any risk associated with your job.

BBC: Work stress 'raises heart risk'

According to one study, if people got just five types of preventive services when they needed to -- colorectal and breast cancer screening, flu vaccines, counseling to help them quit smoking, and regular aspirin use to prevent strokes -- we could avert 100, 000 deaths each year.

WHITEHOUSE: Blog Posts Related to the African American Community

According to Lopez, studies also show that hope promotes healthy behaviors, including fruit and vegetable consumption, regular exercise, safe sex practices and quitting smoking.

CNN: How hope can help you heal

In England in 2010, more than a quarter of secondary school pupils had tried smoking at least once and 5% were regular smokers.

BBC: Smoking 'poses bigger risk to women'

The report said a key aim of government policy should therefore be to encourage people to remain active, engage in regular exercise and refrain from behaviours that could have a detrimental effect on their health, such as binge drinking, smoking and overeating.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Ageing population 'to strain NHS'